The present invention relates to proximity signaling systems and more particularly to proximity signaling systems for alerting a user of an approaching vehicle.
School buses and similar mass transit systems often require school children or passengers to wait at appointed stops for a particular bus to arrive. For several reasons, it is typically desirable to reduce the amount of time that a passenger must spend at an appointed stop waiting for transportation. For example, for the safety and comfort of school children, it is desirable to reduce the amount of time they must spend waiting for a school bus alone, with other children, or in inclement or adverse weather conditions. This holds true regardless of whether the child is waiting to be picked up by the school bus or waiting to be picked up by a parent or other responsible adult after being dropped off by a school bus. As another example, it is simply desirable to make more efficient use of ones time by reducing the amount of time wasted waiting on a bus or other transportation.
There have been a number of attempts at providing early warning systems to alert users of approaching buses, and a number of different approaches have been taken. A few examples include the systems disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,969, issued to Greer in 1982, U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,780, issued to Fabiano et al. in 1991, U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,301, issued to Jackson et al. in 1992, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,159, issued to Schmier et al in 1999. The disclosures of these references are incorporated herein by reference. Prior attempts have offered some advantages but still suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, the receivers used in these systems typically lack flexibility regarding how they receive and process signals and in how they provide information to users. Also, the systems that are disclosed in these references are typically not well suited for school bus transportation systems. For example, some receivers may not be used to signal the approach of multiple buses. Some systems require significant setup, such as requiring that the location of all stops be predetermined. Other systems require a driver to take action at each stop to update the transmitted signal. These systems typically offer too little flexibility, require too much set-up, and introduce too many chances for error.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a flexible proximity signaling system and method particularly suited for use in providing early warning of the approach of a bus or other vehicle.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system and method of the above type that allows a single receiver to be used to identify and alert users of the approach of two different buses or vehicles.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a system and method of the above type that is very user friendly and requires very little set-up.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a system and method of the above type that eliminates the need for detailed mapping of a bus route.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a system and method of the above type that eliminates the need for a transmitted signal to be updated or changed as a bus travels its route.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a system and method of the above type that eliminates the need for a driver to take affirmative actions to update or change the transmitted signal as the bus travels over its route.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a system and method of the above type that allows a bus to vary from its usual route without introducing error into the system.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a system and method of the above type that uses signal strength to progressively trigger a variety of alerts.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a system and method of the above type that provides a gradual proximity display for incrementally displaying the approach of a bus.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a system and method of the above type that uses a voice chip to provide a message that helps a user to determine which bus is approaching.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a system and method of the above type that uses a voice chip and that allows a user to customize one or more messages to be used to alert a user when one or more buses are approaching.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a system and method of the above type that uses receiver addresses to distinguish signals sent by different buses.
Toward the fulfillment of these and other objects and advantages, a system is disclosed in which first and second transmitters are disposed on first and second mobile objects. The first and second transmitters generate first and second RF signals with first and second receiver addresses, respectively. A receiver is disposed remotely from the first and second transmitters. The receiver has first and second microcontroller decoders for recognizing the first and second RF signals, respectively. The receiver has a gradual proximity display, such as a bar graph display, for indicating signal strength. The receiver also has first and second proximity alerts, such as lights, beepers, or voice chips, for signaling proximity of the first and second objects, respectively. In use, the first microcontroller decoder filters signals received by the receiver and passes only signals having the first receiver address along to the display and alerts. Similarly, the second microcontroller decoder filters signals received by the receiver and passes only signals having the second receiver address along to the display and alerts. A microphone may be incorporated into the receiver so that a user may record different custom messages for announcing the proximity of different approaching objects.